Can't sleep...That pleading from the Sout Korean is haunting...

[fujiyama]

I don't what it was about that, but something about that whole thing has disturbed me, as much as everything during this hellish course of this one year of war.

Something about the pleading, the terror, the cruelty...In a way it's representative of this whole terrible war...I just think how many innocent men, women, and children were killed and terrorized by the bombs our own country dropped.

My mom, who's quite liberal, was commenting on how terrible it was in the afternoon...and I didn't even think. I just said, how barbaric is dropping bombs like maniacs and torturing people as in what the US is doing? I'm afraid that I'm not even surprised when the maniacs in Iraq act as cruel as some are. It's all a consequence of this war. It's not even a justification. The cycle doesn't surprise me. It's like the IP conflict now. We bomb a city or a village. They behead someone. The cycle continues...

So, this is Bush's legacy -- Death and destruction. The other side of Al Qaeda. The other fanatacism. We cannot defeat fanaticism by keeping him in power.

[thebobartist]

1. I don't think it's necessarily directly "in response" to our cruelty,

nobody forced them to engage in terror acts.

However, it should be noted that nobody outside of the Middle East would be victims if we had just left them alone.

[fujiyama]

3. True

It's not exactly a "direct response", but it is a consequence nevertheless of our actions in the region. As I said, there is no justification for such barbarity.

[Swamp Rat]

2. I hear ya

It's hard to sleep with all this death and killing going on...

Bush is the first one to blame. He is responsible for every death associated with the NeoCon agenda, and so are the NeoCons and ALL their supporters.

[Old and In the Way]

4. Interesting post.....

In our worldview, "might makes right". We have the war technology and control the narrative. Message management seems to be a growing function of the Pentagon bureaucracy. The War in Iraq is, to a degree, management of the images of war. Our government censored the war to the point where only a small trickle of pictures have come out, mainly through the Internet. They've even censored the pictures of our dead, so as not to worry the minds of the voters here.

So how do a people fight back in the face of overwhelming technical weapon superiority? By attacking our senses in the most graphic way possible. Using our media - reflected back on us. Those pictures and executions should be shocking to all Americans...hopefully, to the point of asking why we are occupiers in a country where we are not wanted. Before this war, I don't recall "terrorists" beheading people...but when the rules of war are skewed against you....you change the rules.

OTOH, I'm not entirely convinced that those who control these executions are not trying to ignite a class war here in America. These executions will make many Americans more anti-Muslim while making others, on the Left, more anti-Bush. Could become a real political faultline in this country if these actions continue. That would seem to benefit the Dividers who run our country these days.

[fujiyama]

6. I never

even saw the video or the photos of the Berg or Johnson killings, because the description was bad enough.

I agree that it's time to withdraw. We can't occupy a country that doesn't want us. Of course, if anyone publically said that or considered that, they'd be called a terrorist appeaser...If it's appeasement to change course on a policy that has proved disasterous, then so be it.

[smada]

9. The problem with that

is the same as it was in Cambodia. You leave a power vacuum and some genocidal regime like the Khmer Rouge will come in and end up killing a third of the people while the world stands by and proclaims neutrality.

There is no best case scenario in situations like this. There's only the least unpalatable.

[Guaranteed]

5. Yup, I keep thinking about it, can't stand it.

When I first saw that video a couple of days ago, I knew the guy was going to die. It's horrible thinking that here's this guy living right now, totally innocent (in my mind), and they're probably going to kill him in this disgustingly painful way not too far in the future.

One of the main reasons I'm against the death penalty.

[leftchick]

7. It haunts me along with Baby Ali...

In my sig line. He looks like he is screaming in this photo. Yet he was so weak when he died only a tiny peep came out of his mouth. There are many more like him in Iraq suffering for months before finally dying in agony. The US can repair oil pipelines day after day yet can't get a shipment of antibiotics to Baghdad and help the helpless. Dispicable... :grr:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. I prayed for the man's soul

that he would find the way to heaven. Then I prayed for the souls of those who killed him, that their eyes would be opened and they would realize that what they are doing is not what is taught by Islam or any of the world's religions.

[laruemtt]

10. it's gotten so bad

i have to read dean koontz right before bed to alleviate some of the horror floating around in my head...

[displacedtexan]

11. The same thing happened after the French Revolution.

Beheadings were so common that people were becoming used to them. Then, one particular noble woman (I forget her name) pleaded for her life (like this man), and the crowds created such an uproar that the beheadings soon stopped.

I think this young man has touched the lives of all who saw him claim that his life was important. I know it touched me.

[stavka]

12. I guess they were wrong - the Revolution is being televised.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. Here's what made me cry:

"Kim's shoulders were heaving, his mouth open and moving as if he were gulping air and sobbing. Five hooded and armed men stood behind him, one with a big knife slipped in his belt..."

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/174/world/Militants_in_Iraq_behead_South:.shtml

I can't fucking stand it.